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A baler is a piece of farm machinery that is used to compress a cut, raked, crop (such as hay or straw) into bales and bind the bales with twine. There are several different types of balers that are commonly used. Balers are also used in the material recycling facilities, primarily for baling plastic, paper or cardboard for transport to a recycling facility.
Round baler
The most frequently used type of baler is a round baler. It produces cylindrically shaped 'round' or 'rolled' bales. The hay is simply rolled up inside the baler using rubberized belts, fixed rollers, or a combination of rollers and belts. When the bale reaches a determined size, the twine or mesh wrap that binds the bale is wrapped around the outside but not knotted. The back of the baler is opened up and the bale is discharged. Variable chamber balers typically produce bales from 48 to 72 inches in diameter (about 180 cm) and up to 60 inches in width. The bales weigh from 1100 lb (500 kg) to 2200 lb (1000 kg).
Early round balers were sold by Allis Chalmers as the Roto Baler. These bales were roughly 16 inches in diameter and 48 inches wide. The concept was first pioneered by Ummo Luebbens as early as 1910. Introduced in 1947 and discontinued in 1960, Allis Chalmers was a pioneer in supplying machinery that would form cylindrical bales during a period where rectangular bales were most common | 
Round baler in action |
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The modern round baler was designed in 1972 by the Vermeer Company, which as of 2006 continues to produce them
Round bale handling and transport
Round bales can weigh several tons, and are well-suited for modern large scale farming operations such as a dairy with 200 or more cows. However, due to the ability for a round bale to literally roll away on a slope, they require special transport and moving equipment.
The most important tool for round bale handling is the bale spear or spike, which is usually mounted on the back of a tractor or the front of a skid-steer. It is inserted into the approximate center of the round bale, then lifted up and the bale is hauled away. Once at the destination, the round bale is set down, and the spear pulled out. Careful placement of the spear in the center is needed or the round bale can spin around and touch the ground while in transport, causing a loss of control.
Alternatively, a grapple fork may be used to lift and transport round bales. The grapple fork is a hydraulically driven implement attached to the end of a tractor's bucket loader. When the hydraulic cylinder is extended the fork clamps downwards towards the bucket, much like a closing hand. To move a round bale the tractor approaches the bale from the side and places the bucket underneath the bale. The fork is then clamped down across the top of the bale, and the bucket lifted with the bale in tow.
It is difficult to flip a round bale so that the flat surface is facing down and later flip it back up on edge, so transporting many round bales a long distance is a challenge. Flat-bed transport is difficult since the bales could roll off the truck bed going around curves and up hills. To prevent this, the flat-bed trailer is equipped with rounded guard-rails at either end, which prevent bales from rolling either forward or backward. Another solution for this is the saddle wagon, which has closely-spaced rounded saddles or support posts for round bales to sit in. The tall sides of each saddle, or the bale settling down in between posts, prevent the bales from rolling around while on the wagon.
Round bales can be directly used for feeding animals by placing it in a feeding area, tipping it over, removing the bale wrap, and placing a protective ring around the outside so that animals don't walk on hay that has been peeled off the outer perimeter of the bale. The baler's forming and compaction process can assist in unrolling a round bale, as it is often possible to unroll a round bale in a continuous flat strip.
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